Most American adults have accounts with one or more banks, and these banks are a fine place to store one’s money and withdraw it as needed. Americans often have means of depositing paycheck money directly into these accounts, and they can write checks, create money orders, get cash, and more with their money. All of this is standard, and all involves the account owner doing all this by their own will. By contrast, some Americans may suffer a bank levy, and when a bank levy takes place, it may be time to hire a bank levy attorney or the best tax lawyers around to help. What does this mean, and how to stop a levy on your bank account from happening? Younger adults may not be familiar with bank levy efforts or how to stop a levy on your bank account, but it is important to take action once this occurs. Legal help is often the best choice for when a bank levy strikes. So, how to stop a levy on your bank account?
What a Bank Levy Even Is
Americans who earn money have taxes and debt repayments to make. This is normal. Workings adults have tax money deducted from their gross pay, which the IRS will handle, and many Americans also have debts. These may include paying off an auto loan, paying off a mortgage, paying off a credit card, and more. This is also normal.
What about a bank levy, and how to stop a levy on your bank account? This time, money is being extracted without permission. Put simply, a bank levy is when a creditor orders the debtor’s bank to withdraw money and make a payment toward that debt, all without the debtor’s permission. Simply put, this is when a creditor uses a hands-on approach to get the money they are owed, going directly to the bank rather then any “pay your debt now” message to the debtor personally. The IRS, however, may perform a bank levy without havint to go to court first.
Which creditors might do this, and how can they get permission to do such a thing? Credit card companies generally do not do this unless they actually sue the debtor in court and win a money judgment in that manner. But if the bank itself issued the credit card, then the debtor may be subjected to what is called a setoff, and they won’t have to sue the debtor or win a money judgment before performing a setoff.
Assuming the creditor wins the money judgment in court, that creditor is now considered a judgment creditor. Now, this creditor may perform bank levys as it sees fit, or it may even perform wage garnishment (taking owed money straight out of the debtor’s paychecks). That creditor may also perform a till tap; that is, it will instruct the sheriff to remove money from a cash register. But what if the debtor loses all their money this way, and can’t even cover basic living expenses? This is when they hire legal help.
Hiring Legal Help Against a Bank Levy
There may be very little a debtor can do, if anything, if they act alone in the face of bank levy. Most often, the debtor will have only a few days in which to act, so they are urged to look up bank levy lawyers or tax attorneys within that narrow window of time. The client may find these law firms online and visit or call the lawyers working there, and evaluate them with a consultation (this may or may not incur a fee). The client may then hire a lawyer whose personality, expertise, and experience are to their liking.
The bank levy attorney’s case may be strengthened if their client can’t even cover basic living expenses such as prescription drugs, groceries, rent or mortgage payments, or the like due to a bank levy. If the client wins, they may get a settlement against their creditor, though the outcome will of course vary case to case. And within two years’ time, a person may file an administrative claim against any wrongful bank levy or seizure that the IRS made against them.